More on Ireland

The only sign that all was not right in the Republic was watching an armored car make a visit to the bank next to the hotel.

The first thing you saw was a group of large men with very impressive looking guns, not the pistols you might see on American bank guards, taking up positions on the sidewalk. Only when they had the area secured did the armored car even come into view and it was followed by another vehicle. Armored car transactions are taken seriously. I recall from growing up near Boston, that the IRA, or former members of said organization on the run in the US, would occasionally rob an armored car in the area.

Another was just how green everything was. I know, people go on about how green Ireland is, but its still surprising. The one that really got me was the hay fields. Here in OH, if you see a field covered with baled hay waiting for pickup, the field itself will be the same straw color as the hay itself. Even the word "straw" is used for that color because that's the color a field of mowed hay usually here. But in Ireland, the hay fields had already seen another generation of grass start coming up, so they were green.

Maybe it never gets so hot that the grains are burnt out, or so cold that they really stop growing. In Ohio, or in Massachusetts for that matter, you get both extremes.

Back from Ireland

The Ireland trip was a much more wonderful experience than it even seemed at the time.

One night the hotel smoke alarm went off at around 3 a.m., we were the only ones in the entire hotel who thought that it might be a good idea to leave our room. (I believe that J was the only child in the hotel, so that might have something to do with it.) When we got down to the lobby, the night staff gave us a look like he was surprised to see anyone and asked "is there a fire?"

He later came out and explained that 7 or 8 guys had holed up in room with "a great many bottles, if you know what I mean" and started smoking. When he went up to check on them, they seemed unaware that the loud alarm noises had anything to do with them.

In retrospect, this experience seems like a lot of fun. I'm sure it didn't so at the time.